What is common to the disasters above (except for the godman-related riot) is that they are all about water, waterlogging, and waterborne disease. Even more important is that they are man-made, with a collapse in administration and a sharp political failure, even though at first glance they appear to be due to force majeure. The Gorakhpur deaths that took place early in August were allegedly due to the lack of oxygen supply in the hospital. In response to a particularly aggressive set of actions in a recent Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat, election commissioner O.P. The root cause of man-made disasters of the type we saw in August is not merely incapacity and apathy but conscious errors of omission and commission by the state.

Source: Mint September 03, 2017 18:11 UTC